It has been a busy summer and fall for Oh!. She has undergone a lot of upgrades and regular maintenance. Oh! was hauled at Annapolis from June through Mid October where all the below waterline projects were completed.
These included:
- Replacing all 4 bronze seacocks and through hull fittings
- Replacing the bearings on both rudders
- New Sea Hawk biocop bottom paint.
- New bronze cones for the folding propellors
- Replaced the zinc anodes and oil for the sail drives
- Reversed the anchor chain
- Cold zinc plated the anchor and chain to minimize rust
- Replaced the anchor well protective high density plastic sheets with much larger panels
- Repaired minor dings and scratches in the gelcoat
- Cleaned, polished and waxed the hulls
- Re-painted the boot stripes on the hulls
- Added a portable 20v angle grinder for emergency cutoff of rigging and general use on Oh!.
There were also some major top side and interior additions and changes to Oh! Some of these items were:
- New triple reefed mainsail from UK sails Sidney BC,
- All new pins, nuts and washers along with several additional mainsail track cars
- Addition of 4 Maus Aerosol fire extinguishers
- New masthead wind indicator
- New swim ladder
- New fridge and freezer door seals (a 16 hr job)
- New fuel lines on the starboard engine
- New starter batteries for each engine
- Finished installing weatherproof USB outlet to the helm instrument panel
- Cut out the fabric panels from Sunbrella to fabricate a new mainsail cover
On the maintenance side, which never ends, there were a lot of “to do” items ticked off:
- Oil and fuel filters along with oil changes
- Cleaned the fuel tanks
- Cleaned fresh water tanks
- Replaced leaking fresh water lines in the port hull
- Added re-enforcing patches to cockpit canvas
- Repaired dingy anti-chaff pads on the solar panel arch
- Checked all rigging connections, and re-installed reefing lines
- Repainted anchor well and chain storage areas
- Checked all running and navigation lights
- Got the IridiumGo system up and active again
- Had the refrigeration system serviced
- Cleaned out lockers and cabinets
- Cleaned bilges
- Provisioned Oh!
- Checked out the Jordan series drogue and have figured out some modifications I wish to try as well as ways to retrieve it.
Unfortunately, the work came to a grinding halt in November as unseasonably severe cold weather set in. November turned out to be a very difficult month in which to get any further work done. Therefore, a lot of “to do list” items remained unfinished as our departure dates approached to go south from Annapolis to Norfolk, then east to Bermuda. Those jobs will be tackled in the warmer climates of Bermuda and the Caribbean.
There is a time tested saying that cruising by sailboat is simply “fixing your boat in exotic locations”. There is a lot of truth in that saying…however, that means you also get to go to exotic and fascinating locations.
I will look forward to hearing from everyone and hope to welcome you aboard Oh!
Cheers
Rod Morris
www.cloudstocoral.com
Oh! She looks beautiful! Learned a few things re the Jorddan Series Drogue last night at the the BCA fleet mtg – make sure the bridle is heavy duty lines, not dynema – else it might suddenly get slack and wrap around things and then get tight again – not a pleasant thought …
Merry Chrsitmas
Fred and Bärbel*
*Missing you and OH! and sailing and suffering from some severe winter blues in Sidney BC 🙂 – any slots left for an escape on Oh!?
Thanks Bärbel for the encouraging words. Yes, I still have time available in January and February so cast the winter blues away for the incredibly clear waters and warmth of the Caribbean.
It would be great to have you both back on Oh!.
Cheers